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Verified case study

UFC Fight Night Zagreb

Client testimonial

“Kristina was an incredible asset to our team; hard working, thorough, diligent and effective. I contracted her based on her local knowledge of Croatia and slick PR skills and she delivered on both fronts.

Without a doubt a key driver in the success of our project, Kristina gained praise for her work not only from myself and the PR team, but other members of the office also. I would have her on my team any day of the week.”

Emma Pickles, UFC Communications Director

Overview

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial art promotion company. It is the premier mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion as well as the largest in the world, featuring most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport.

The UFC was set to host its first ever Croatian event in April 2016 and enlisted Kristina Spionjak to promote it across print press, online press, national and local radio and TV from January 2016 through to post-event coverage.

The objectives were to raise awareness of the UFC, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organisation, their roster of elite athletes and their first live event in Croatia, as well as reach new audiences.

Background

MMA is a popular sport in Croatia with little-associated negativity or misconceptions. However, there remain some audiences who are still unaware of MMA or relatively uninformed.

Most of the fighters are also businessmen, are well educated and have families. It was important to relay this message in press opportunities to help change perceptions of the sport and its participants.

Methodology

We chose three key national channels as media partners based on their audience demographics and reach to receive key exclusives.

We then targeted smaller second tier platforms, dividing up the available stories based on each platform’s style of presenting or editorial. We targeted different sectors aside from pure sports channels, including lifestyle and men’s fitness.

Results

Sold out event.

All major national TV, radio and press covered the event on an almost daily basis around fight week, securing over 342 pieces of online coverage 21.2m estimated coverage views, with €546,475 value of the media coverage. The delayed broadcast of the event on Nova TV was the most viewed MMA spectacle this year in Croatia.

The Moroz-Stancio fight was seen by 441,000 viewers (30.7% audience share), while the heavyweight contenders battle (Junior Dos Santos vs Ben Rothwell) had 781,000 viewers – doubling the numbers of a similar show last year.

Kristina Spionjak

Kristina Spionjak is a Publicist & Marketing Consultant with over five years of public relations and marketing experience covering a wide range of lifestyle, beauty, sports, fashion and bridal brands in UK & Balkan markets.